By KEVIN HARRIS
NEW ALBANY – On May 20 at Mt. Tabor Field, the New Albany
Bulldogs reclaimed a significant piece of hardware.
New Albany thumped North Harrison 17-4 in five innings to
capture the final game of the Stan Sajko Invitational – the Bulldogs’ annual tournament
that began in 1962. The tournament had a three-team, round-robin format this
year with Corydon Central being the third squad.
“Overall, it was a pretty good day,” Bulldogs’ head coach
Chris McIntyre said. “We swung the bats well. We were pretty loose at the
plate, which was good to see.”
New Albany’s victory over the Cougars (9-13) gave it the
Sajko Invite title with a 2-0 tournament record. It was the 13th
consecutive time the Bulldogs (15-9) have claimed the crown when the tournament
was played. The Sajko Invitational got canceled because of rain last year.
New Albany won the tournament opener on May 19 against Corydon
12-2 in six innings. In the second game May 20, Harrison County rival North
Harrison downed the Panthers (13-11) 15-6.
The tournament is named after the legendary Sajko, who was
the tournament founder and former New Albany head baseball coach and athletic
director. When Sajko began the tourney in 1962, it was named the New Albany
Invitational.
Sajko passed away in 2008. He was inducted into the Indiana
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.
The Sajko Invitational was a four-team tourney in recent
years, but defending Class 2A state champion Providence dropped out of the
tournament this year.
McIntyre says it is essential that the Sajko Invite gets a
fourth team in the future.
“Only having three teams loses a little bit of its
tournament-type feeling,” McIntyre said. “We’ve got to get another team in here
and make it have a little more tournament feeling to it. It probably doesn’t
feel quite the same as it normally does when it has four teams in it.”
Leading 2-1 after 2 ½ innings, the Bulldogs turned the final
game into a blowout versus North Harrison with five runs in the third and 10 in
the fourth to go up 17-1. The Cougars plated three runs in the top of the
fifth.
New Albany junior Ryan Robison was a single away from the
cycle. He went 3-for-3 with a double, a triple and a first-inning solo home run.
Robison ended up with four RBIs.
Teammate Chase Rudy was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Bulldog freshman Andrew Ricketts drove in three runs, while New Albany’s Jordan
Cooper and Steven Thom each had two RBIs.
New Albany starter Owen Tanksley got the victory, improving
his record to 3-1. The sophomore left-hander pitched four innings, yielding a
run (earned) on four hits. Tanksley recorded three strikeouts and three walks.
The Bulldogs committed one error.
“We were pretty solid,” McIntyre said. “Defensively, we were
pretty clean. Owen struggled a little bit with his control. We helped him out a
little bit with a double play early in the game when it was still close.”
North Harrison starter Max Flock was the losing pitcher,
while collecting two RBIs at the plate.
STAN SAJKO
INVITATIONAL
NEW ALBANY 17, NORTH
HARRISON 4, 5 INNINGS
N. Harrison 100 03-
4 7 4
New Albany 115 (10)x-17 14 1
W – Owen Tanksley (3-1). L – Max Flock. 2B – Paul Moberly
(NH), Jake Morin (NH), Dylan Clark (NA), Chase Rudy (NA), Ryan Robison (NA),
Jordan Cooper (NA). 3B – Robison (NA). HR – Robison (NA).
Records – New Albany 15-9, North Harrison 9-13.
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